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Iraq embassies cut as war clouds gather
By Willy Wo-Lap Lam
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Amid the talk of war, several Asian nations have ordered their embassy staff members to leave Iraq. About 10 staff members of the Chinese Embassy in Baghdad have left the country after Beijing earlier this week ordered the departure of the mission's nonessential personnel. Some diplomats and other staff might temporarily stay in neighboring countries and observe the situation closely from there, official media reports say. The Xinhua news agency reported that staff who were staying behind had taken "comprehensive contingency measures" in case war broke out. In her press briefing on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said "in view of the growing tension in Iraq, China has decided to decrease the number of non-essential embassy staff." The China Youth Daily reported on Tuesday that embassy staff in Iraq had already "taken care of" valuable and confidential material in the embassy. It said should hostilities break out, Chinese nationals could vacate the country in around minutes. Other state media said that Chinese journalists heading for Iraq had received training from the People's Liberation Army on emergency safety measures, including how to deal with chemical and biological toxin. At the same time, staff in China's Embassy in Israel have taken measures to protect nationals in case Israel is attacked by Iraq after the outbreak of hostilities between the U.S. and Iraq. Counselor at the Chinese Embassy Lu Kun told the Chinese media his staff would help Chinese living in Israel, mostly contract workers, businessmen and students, protect themselves against chemical and biological weapons. Xinhua reported that only a "very small minority" of Chinese living in Israel had vacated the country. Other countries have also begun taking action to protect diplomatic staff. Pakistan says it has advised family members and non-essential staff at its Iraq embassy to leave but all core embassy staff, including the ambassador, will stay put. India's embassy also remains open but with reduced staff numbers. Malaysia has cut its embassy to a skeleton staff only with the Malaysian ambassador and seven diplomatic staff remaining.
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